The global economy is expected to more than double by 2050, but a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests the United States will no longer be king of the hill a few decades from now.
China, which currently plays second fiddle to the U.S. in terms of gross domestic product, is expected to overtake the American economy by 2030.
But if PwC's projections play out, the U.S. won't even lock down a silver medal a few decades from now. On a purchasing-power-parity basis – which looks at GDP adjusted for international exchange rates and costs associated with local purchases – India will come in second to China, with the U.S. rounding out the top three.
GDP purchasing-power-parity (PPP) calculations aren't the gold standard for most U.S. economic experts, but offer an alternative look at economic growth focused on, as the name suggests, a particular country's purchasing power.
And focusing on PPP, the largest economies in the world in 2050 are not expected to include 2016's usual members. Indonesia is expected to jump from the world's eighth-largest economy to the fourth-largest, with Brazil climbing from seventh to fifth. Japan, meanwhile, could fall from fourth to eighth, Germany from fifth to ninth and the U.K. from ninth to 10th. France is expected to drop out of the top 10 entirely.
The report predicts Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey will see average annual economic growth hit nearly 3.5% over the next three decades and change -- more than double the rate of growth expected out of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.
